Melissa McCarthy and Sandra Bullock's The Heat ended up having all the firepower at the North American box office as their new R-rated comedy crushed Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx's big-budget tentpole White House Down.

From 20th Century Fox, The Heat opened to a rousing $40 million, marking another major win for McCarthy and her Bridesmaids director Paul Feig. The pic marks McCarthy and Feig's best opening to date -- as well as Bullock's.

Conversely, director Roland Emmerich's White House Down debuted to a dismal $25.7 million. The action pic cost a pricey $150 million to produce and marks the second Sony summer tentpole to flop after Will Smith's After Earth.

Disney and Pixar's Monsters University stayed at No. 1 in its second weekend, declining a slim 44 percent to $46.2 million and pushing its domestic total to $171 million. The toon has jumped the $300 million mark after earning another $44.2 million overseas from 37 territories for an international total of $129.3 million.

Monsters University wasn't the only 3D animated film making headlines. Overseas, Universal's Despicable Me 2 broke records as it opened in six countries, scoring $41.5 million for the weekend for an early international total of $50 million from seven territories (it opened in Australia last weekend.) The sequel opens Tuesday in North America, where it is expected to be just as much of a monster.

Despicable 2 opened No. 1 in the U.K., France, French Switzerland, Netherlands and Belgium, and was second only to Man of Steel in Sweden and Australia. In the U.K. and Ireland (considered one market), the toon opened to $15.7 million -- the top opening ever for a Universal film, as well as being the top opening of 2013. Including last week's previews, the U.K. total is an outstanding $23.3 million.

In North America, The Heat came in No. 2, followed by Paramount holdover World War Z, which held well, falling 48 percent to roughly $30 million. The Brad Pitt zombie tentpole has now earned $124 million domestically.

Heading into the weekend, The Heat and White House Down were each tracking to bow in the $30 million range. And on Friday night, each film earned an A- CinemaScore from moviegoers.

The Heat, costing Fox a modest $43 million to produce, provided a needed respite for younger and older women weary of action fare stars (females made up 67 percent of the audience). In the film, Bullock stars as a strict FBI agent who is forced to team up with McCarthy's rough-around-the-edges Boston street cop.

To date, McCarthy's top opening at the domestic box office is Identity Thief, which debuted earlier this year to $34.6 million. Bridesmaids grossed $26.2 million in its domestic debut in May 2011. The film, whose ensemble cast also included Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph, became a female-friendly comedy hit and has gone on to gross $288.4 million to date worldwide.

White House Down will turn into a financial headache for Sony unless it does exceedingly well overseas. The A- CinemaScore is a good sign in terms of strong word-of-mouth, but simply not enough moviegoers turned out. In the film, the president of the United States (Foxx) and a wannabe Secret Service agent (Tatum) team up after the White House is invaded by terrorists and the U.S. Capitol destroyed.

One problem -- White House Down comes out just three months after FilmDistrict's White House-under-siege film Olympus Has Fallen played in theaters. Another is a glut of male-skewing action films in the market, including World War Z and Man of Steel.

White House Down is the lowest opening for an Emmerich-directed tentpole in recent times. In summer 2004, The Day After Tomorrow debuted to $68.7 million. Independence Day -- which also featured the destruction of the White House -- opened to $50.2 million in July 1996.

Sony believes the film will have strong legs based on the A- CinemaScore. Also, plenty of females turned out (49 percent).

"We couldn't be more proud or supportive of the film Roland, Channing and Jamie created. This weekend's launch is just the beginning. While White House Down opened in a few smaller countries this weekend, it will not begin to open in major overseas territories until mid-July and it will continue to roll out overseas well into the fall," said a Sony spokesman.

On a brighter note, Sony's innovative end-of-the-world comedy This Is the End continued to prosper, grossing $8.7 million in its third weekend for a North American total of $74.7 million.

Among other weekend highlights, Warner Bros. and Legendary's Man of Steel jumped the $500 million mark globally.

Even with its poor showing here---I still say WHD looks soooo much better than The White House is taken over by North Korean terrorists actioner Olympus Has Fallen--I base that notion on the trailers for both films and my gut.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

While at the Saturn Awards this week, Black told Collider that the film will retain the 1930s setting of the stories. He also spoke about his love for the character:

"We’re shooting it as though it’s in the 30s, including all the Capra-esque elements of 1930s films like You Can't Take It with You, The idea of ‘What if Jimmy Stewart were a stone-cold killer?’ basically. It’s that kind of combination which we enjoy. Doc Savage is a personal film to me. It’s a 1930s pulp character so it hasn’t been around for 75 years or so, but people if they’re introduced to it they’ll get to know, hopefully, what I came to love as a kid. I’ve read those series for 43 years and always wanted to figure out how to crack it."

Heat Vision reports that a remake of the tripped out thriller "Jacob's Ladder" with its fusion of paranoia thriller, non-linear narrative, distinctive effects and horror is on the way.

The original film starred Tim Robbins as Vietnam War vet Jacob Singer, who suffers bizarre flashbacks and nightmarish hallucinations as a result of things he experienced both before and after the war. We watch as Jacob attempts to learn the truth behind the visions, slowly slipping further and further into a darker nightmare.

The special effects broke new ground since none of them were created in post production, everything was recorded in camera. This included the first film use of the now copied trick of filming someone's head moving around at a low frame rate - resulting in unsettling super fast head shaking when brought back up to normal speed.

The film was a major inspiration for the Silent Hill video games, and its much debated about ending remains one of the most talked about ever.

A cross between "Alive" and "Lord of the Flies," the story begins when a soccer team's plane crash lands on a deserted Pacific island. Team spirit evaporates as disagreements cause the group to separate into factions - a violent one lead by an unbalanced ruler (Ethan Peck), and a compassionate one led by a selfless player (Nate Parker).

Diego Boneta, plays the wildcard, a cocky player who becomes an obsessive and sadistic barbarian.

Set four hundred years after an apocalypse, a technology-free society now exists made up entirely of twins. One of each set is perfect, the other slightly mutated. An apartheid system forces the mutated twins to settlements, even though when one twin dies, so does the other. The focus is on a brother and sister twin, and what happens when he becomes a leader in the repressed society.

In 1969 Los Angeles, Joaquin Phoenix will play a stoner detective named Doc Sportello, whose ex-girlfriend (Katherine Waterston of "Taking Woodstock" and "Michael Clayton") Shasta, sets things in motion. Now a straight-laced partner to a real estate mogul, she enlists Doc's help to protect the mogul from his murderous wife and her young boytoy.

The film will tell the story of Margaret and Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams), the artists whose work, especially paintings of doe-eyed children, became a pop-culture phenomenon in the 1950s and 1960s. However their home life was anything but perfect. Margaret was the artist but her husband took all the credit. During the their divorce they fought over the rights to their work with Margaret eventually winning the dispute- painting a picture in federal court to prove she was the one responsible for the work.

Krysten Ritter will play DeeAnn, the free-spirited confidante of Adams' who tries to coax her friend to come out of her shell. Danny Huston will play a burnt-out, heavy-drinking gossip reporter. Jason Schwartzman has been cast as San Francisco art gallery owner Ruben.

In the drama Al Pacino plays an aging 1970s rocker who can't give up his hard living ways. But when he discovers an undelivered letter written to him when he was 19 by John Lennon, he straightens his life out and reconnects with his estranged son (Bobby Cannavale).

Plummer will portray the longtime manager of Pacino’s character and Jennifer Garner will play his daughter in law.

Annette Bening plays Pacino's love interest the owner of the small New Jersey hotel where he takes up residence.

As a result, the $3 million project has been shut down and will NOT go forward. $500,000 was already spent on pre-production costs. Franco's exit is said to be due to a disagreement with the studio over the crew he wanted to hire. Franco wanted fresh but inexperienced crew, and the suits wouldn’t approve of his choices.

Based upon author Andre Dubus III's book--The story involves three interwoven story lines - a stripper forced to bring her three-year-old daughter to work; an angry, loner who gets thrown out of the club; and a foreigner with an endless supply of cash about to commit a terrifying act.

The film would have been set in present day New York rather than around the September 11th attacks time frame of the book. Hanna Weg wrote the adapted screenplay.

Based on S. Craig Zahler's upcoming novel, DiCaprio stars as a disgraced detective sent to a Missouri town partnered with a hot-tempered detective (Foxx). The pair come together just as their fellow police officers become targets for murder. The two decide to seek out their own brand of justice.

The story centers on a down-on-his-luck gambler facing crushing debt who teams with a younger gambling addict (Reynolds) in an attempt to change his luck. The two set off on a road trip through the South with visions of winning back what has been lost.

Estrogen and testosterone face off at the domestic box office this weekend as two very different buddy films both eye a debut in the $30 million range.

In the male corner is Roland Emmerich's big-budget tentpole White House Down, starring Jamie Foxx as the president and Channing Tatum as a wannabe Secret Service agent. The two characters find themselves uniting after America's most famous residence is overrun by terrorists and the U.S. Capitol destroyed.

Appealing to the female set is The Heat, starring Sandra Bullock as a straight-laced FBI agent who is forced to team up with a crass Boston street cop played by Melissa McCarthy, one of Hollywood's hottest box office stars. The 20th Century Fox film reteams McCarthy with Bridesmaids director Paul Feig.

Disney and Pixar's Monsters University could beat both new films in its second weekend as it continues wrangle the family-friendly crowd.

White House Down, costing Sony $150 million to produce, could mark one of the lowest openings for a Roland Emmerich tentpole, particularly when accounting for inflation. In summer 2004, The Day After Tomorrow debuted to $68.7 million. Independence Day -- which also saw the destruction of the White House -- opened to $50.2 million in July 1996.

Part of the issue could be that White House Down comes out just three months after FilmDistrict's White House-under-seige film, Olympus Has Fallen. Nevertheless, Tatum and Fox have sizable fan bases, and White House Down could overperform.

Another is a glut of male-skewing product in the marketplace, with World War Z heading into it second weekend, and Man of Steel into its third.

The Heat was modestly budgeted, costing $43 million to produce.

Feig's Bridesmaids grossed $26.2 million its domestic debut in May 2011. Becoming a female-friendly comedy hit, the film, which also starred McCarthy along with Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph, has gone on to gross $288.4. million to date worldwide.

The Heat is currently selling 50 percent more advance tickets on Fandango than were sold at the same time in the sales cycle for Bridesmaids.

Moore would play District 13 leader Alma Coin. In the book, she is in charge of the mysterious district where heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) launches her fight against the tyrannical Capitol regime. The pair clash over Katniss' methods and motivations.

A cross between "Alive" and "Lord of the Flies," the story begins when a soccer team's plane crash lands on a deserted Pacific island. Team spirit evaporates as disagreements cause the group to separate into factions - a violent one lead by an unbalanced ruler (Peck), and a compassionate one led by a selfless player (Parker).

Boneta plays the wildcard, a cocky player who becomes an obsessive and sadistic barbarian.

Sandra Bullock was offered the role of Miss Hannigan, the mean lady who runs the orphanage where Annie and her fellow orphans live. She had initially passed on the role before coming back to the negotiating table, though her representatives were unable to strike a deal Diaz will now take over

The speculation as to which Marvel character the actor could be playing has reved up--Everything from the starring roles in "Black Panther" and "Doctor Strange" movies, to a mo-capped Thanos who will serve as the big bad in "The Avengers" sequels.

Patrick Wilson stars as a down-on-his luck limo driver trying to pay back a debt when his next passenger turns out to be a nut job (Chris Pine) selling his ledger of criminal associates to the highest bidder.

The deets of James Badge Dale's role are unknown. Brooklyn Decker plays Wilson’s ex-girlfriend, a label-obsessed party girl. Ed Helms will play a fellow chauffeur at Stretch’s company, the ideal driver who is a ghost and shows up as Wilson’s conscience.

An adaptation of the Steve Moore penned comic, the story follows Hercules (Dwayne Johnson) years after he carried out his twelve tasks and has turned his back on the Gods. He discovers a higher calling as he defends the mythical Mount Olympus from an evil army. He and six friends have become mercenaries who've been hired by the King of Thrace to train his men into becoming an army every bit as ruthless as they are.

Anderson will play a marathon runner who serves as a scout for Hercules, reporting on their enemies’ movements.

Rufus Sewell has signed on to play Autolycus the son of the messenger god Hermes. Norwegian actor Aksel Hennie is set to play a mad warrior named Tydeus. Joseph Fiennes will play the pampered king who assigns Hercules his labors. In Greek mythology, this would be King Eurystheus, but it remains to be seen who he’ll actually be in the film. Ian McShane is reportedly playing Amphiarus, who is equal parts priest, prophet and warrior who counsels Hercules. John Hurt will play the weary ruler of Thrace, while Rebecca Ferguson will play his daughter, a healer. Reece Ritchie will play Iolaus, a poet and Herc's nephew, who eagerly promotes his uncle's achievements and adventures, and throughout the film is forced to become a warrior alongside his uncle. "Kon-Tiki" actor Tobias Santelmann will play Rhesus, a golden-locked barbarian and revolutionary. Antje Traue also stars.

"In answer to the question you’re going to ask, I don’t know yet. I’m in discussion over the ‘B’ word and I won’t make any decision until ['Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'] is open. It’s taken a long time to get this open and this has been my focus"

Thomas writes the script and will direct the feature-- "Life has taken Veronica away from Neptune. In the years since spoiling Keith's chances to be reelected sheriff, Veronica hasn't taken a case. But something big is about to bring her back home and back to her calling - which just happens to be around her ten year high school reunion."

"The movie is outlined, but frankly, I needed to know how we were doing to figure out how to model the script and how to write it. There are very specific things that are going to be affected by what our budget is," Thomas told The Hollywood Reporterin mid-March.

Filming has started on the project that gets distribution via Warner Bros. A Comic-Con panel for the pic is also expected to happen in July.

The story follows a psychologist who becomes entangled with an apparent psychic living in a wet house (a place where alcoholics can drink themselves to death). Said patient proves an aid in solving a string of grizzly massacres.

Based on author Lois Lowry's celebrated 1993 children's book, the introspective fantasy take is set in a colorless dystopian society in which all memory of human history has been erased, emotion does not exist and citizens' professions are chosen for them. A 12-year-old boy is assigned to serve as the Receiver of Memories (i.e. the next Giver) and discovers that all is not as it seems.

Given that Jonas, the young protagonist is only 12 years old in the book the role will likely be aged up for the movie to accommodate those who tested.

Jeff Bridges remains attached to play the current Giver, the most important person in the Community.

In the original, the story begins as a woman (Suranne Jones) completes a fifteen-year prison stretch for the murder of two policemen who’d come to evict her family from their farmhouse. Wanting to live a quiet life and reunite with her troubled younger sister, she unwittingly becomes a target for revenge.

The first book in a trilogy is set in the Joseph Stalin-era Soviet Union and follows disgraced lawman Leo Demidov who is assigned to investigate a series of gruesome child murders.

Tom Hardy will play the Soviet officer while Noomi Rapace will play his wife, who pretends to be a doting partner but is concealing many thoughts and feelings. "RoboCop" remake star Joel Kinnamanwill play the killer responsible for these brutal deaths. Gary Oldman is set to play a member of the secret police who also happens to be a suspect in the case. Paddy Considine's role is unknown, Fares Fares ("Zero Dark Thirty") will play one of the trusted associates of Hardy's character.

The story is based on the real life tale of Ukrainian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo aka the Rostov Ripper who was executed in 1994 for 52 murders.

Patrick Wilson stars as a down-on-his luck limo driver trying to pay back a debt when his next passenger turns out to be a nut job (Chris Pine) selling his ledger of criminal associates to the highest bidder.

The deets of Dale's role are unknown. Brooklyn Decker plays Wilson’s ex-girlfriend, a label-obsessed party girl. Ed Helms will play a fellow chauffeur at Stretch’s company, the ideal driver who is a ghost and shows up as Wilson’s conscience.